[MassHistPres] Questions about extending the Demo Delay Bylaw

[Diane Pursley]

The Lexington Town Meeting is faced with the decision to extend our 
Demolition Delay Bylaw from the current 12 months to 24 months. This 
Article was brought to Town Meeting via a group of citizens who are 
alarmed at the lack of protection it seems the 12 month delay really 
offers the properties currently included on the historic inventory.

We would like to reach out to this historic preservation community with 
the following questions:

  * Why you think demolition delay bylaws work to preserve historic
    properties?
  * Why would a longer demo delay be better? Is 24 months too long?
  * Has anyone moved from 12 months to 18 months and seen the longer
    period help preserve historic properties?
  * Do any towns on this list have data that could support the case for
    a demo delay bylaw in general or a case for moving from 12 months to
    18 months?
  * Could anyone direct us to studies documenting the impacts of the
    demo delay bylaw in general or an extension?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Diane Pursley
Town of Lexington

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20150322/cb2bb9e5/attachment-0001.htm>